


The Year of Deceptions

by loumarguerite



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Black Family (Harry Potter) - Freeform, F/M, Gen, Minor Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Original Character(s), Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-02 10:04:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16784773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loumarguerite/pseuds/loumarguerite
Summary: Following the Summer 1994 Quidditch World Cup incident involving Death Eaters, the Dark Mark, and the mysterious incapacitation of former Auror Alastor Moody, the Ministry of Magic is in dire need of good publicity, especially since notorious murderer Sirius Black is still on the run. It therefore sends Aurors to Hogwarts for the year to ensure additional security during the Triwizard Tournament. Amongst them is 21-year old Nymphadora Tonks, who has just finished her Auror training. But, as foes converge to Hogwarts, troubled times are ahead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Do people read these ? It's my first time posting on Ao3, ever. Anyway, the project for this fic is to span from the Quidditch World Cup final incident from "Goblet of Fire", which is going to be slightly different from the canon version as you will see, to the end of the Triwizard Tournament. There will be other small changes made from canon, but you will discover them as the plot progresses. Point of views will alternate between Harry's and Tonks', and Tonks will also have a character arc which will heavily involve her parents' past, amongst other things. The first 6 chapters are already written and the rest is plotted out - there's going to be at least 25 to 40 chapters with between one week or two weeks between each update.
> 
> If all of this hasn't completely scared you off, I'll add that I'm French - the horror ! - and working without a Beta. You can also follow me on Twitter if you want (@LouMarguerite1). Bonne lecture !

Amongst frightened screams, Harry, Ron and Hermione stumbled outside Mr Weasley's tent, still half-asleep. The air was thick with smoke and screams alike, and Harry idly wondered whether or not this was not another nightmare of his.

The first thing Harry noticed was a number of people floating in the air, as if suspended in time. Wizards and witches were rushing away from them. Mr Weasley, Charlie and Bill had already begun to run towards them, or rather towards a second group of people, which stood below them and seemed to attack other wizards to prevent them from coming any nearer. This second group, the perpetrators of the attack, wore black hoods and masks ; they made way slowly, the grimiest of processions, as though they were parading the small number of bodies floating grotesquely above their heads.

Ron tried to drag away his friends unsuccessfully. Harry would not budge, and seemed unable to make sense of the events unfolding before his eyes ; Hermione, who seemed to have understood what was going on, kept staring, horrified, at the group of Muggles and Muggleborns lolling in the air, swinging and bumping against one another on the hooded men's commands.

An unknown woman, wand in hand, stopped abruptly by their side. She turned to them and started to rant on, waving wildly about with her wand.

"Are you lot insane ? I'm an Auror - get away from here, head to the woods ! What are you still doing here ? Do you - do you even understand what I'm saying - bloody hell, do you speak english ? Tell me you're not Bulgarians ! "

"Oi ! Watch out with the wand !" was the only thing Ron managed to answer before more screams erupted from the crowd. Instinctively, Harry, Ron and Hermione ran away from the screams ; the woman did not follow them. 

The woods were darker than Harry thought possible, yet they ventured deeper still, and soon the sound of their ragged breathing was the only thing that reached their ears. When all was silent, they finally stopped to catch their breath in a small clearing.The familiar swishing sound of jets of magic being cast was suddenly heard, along with pained yelling. The trio froze. It seemed as though a confrontation was happening deeper inside the forest, though they could not see further than the clearing.

"I am not - letting you - hurt ME again !"

The confrontation stopped. The same voice was heard once more: "Take him home ! Now ! That's an order !"

Someone Disapparated with a crack while a blood-curdling laugh was heard.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were petrified and ran to hide in nearby, thick bushes, hoping that whoever this was - friend or foe - had not noticed them. They barely saw anything. They were laying down on mud and moss, and Harry tried to get up, thinking that, surely someone was injured and needed help. Both Ron and Hermione kept him down.

An enormous man ran into the clearing. In the light that his wand emitted, it appeared that he was heavily disfigured, missing most of his nose, with only a patch of hair on his head. One of his eyes in particular reflected back light in an odd way - it seemed electric blue for a moment, before the man muttered, what was left of his lips barely moving, "Nox". He had stopped running. The light from his wand dimmed down until it was no more, and the clearing was plunged into darkness again. The silhouette stopped for a moment, seemed to turn in their general direction and pause, and Harry swore that he could feel the electric blue eye looking at him.

A second voice, slightly lower than the previous one, broke the silence surrounding them. "MORSMORDRE !"

The silhouette of the disfigured man immediately rushed towards where the voice had come from but, as it was nearing the end of the clearing, it was caught by something, a jet of black even darker than the general darkness which permeated the forest, a spell of some kind.

The man crumbled to the ground as the trio heard, a second time, the sound of someone Disapparating. Whoever had attacked the man had fled. 

"Mad-Eye ! Mad-Eye ! Wait for me !"

A woman's voice.

"Over here !" yelled back Harry.

The trio got up, their clothes stained with dirt and mud. The woman arrived in the clearing, wand at the ready, and let out a strangled noise. "Oh shit, oh Lord, oh shit. Lumos. Protego !"The spell seemed to set a protective ward around the clearing. She immediately knelt next to the monstrous-looking man, barely looking at them.

"Is he, you know.. with us ?" asked Ron to the woman.

They were closer now, and Harry understood Ron's question, as the man looked the closest to an evil wizard Harry could have imagined, apart from Voldemort. The man's electric blue eye was spinning wildly on its orbit, though it was firmly set in the man's eye socket. He could have been dead, for all Harry knew. He look at the woman kneeling besides the man. She was young, with a pale face and dark hair and eyes. She was whispering a number of complex spells over the body, none of which Harry recognized, apart from her last one, "Ennervate". She checked the man's breathing, before pressing her ear to his chest."Alive… suffered heavy magical trauma… perpetrator obviously gone. You !" she turned to the trio. "Saw anything ?"

The three of them tried to explain the voices, the noises, the spells, both the "Morsmordre" one and the mysterious black jet of magic. They were stumbling over their words and the woman seemed to barely listen to them, but suddenly she raised her arm and sent a beam of clear light which fired past the trees towards the sky.About ten seconds later, the clearing was filled with a number of wizards which had Apparated. It was apparent that they were with the Ministry ; Harry recognized Mr Crouch, and Mr Weasley was there as well, looking intensely relieved to see them relatively unharmed.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, good Lord… I was afraid something had happened to you… Death Eaters, everywhere…"

Mr Crouch cut him off. "Explain", he simply asked the woman, imperiously. He looked like a madman, and his behavior seemed oddly off.

"They heard a fight, and the Death Eater who summoned the Dark Mark. Alastor Moody arrived, presumably to catch the Death Eater, but was caught by a blast of - something - the kids didn't hear a voiced spell. Moody's alive, full condition unknown, the Death Eater's gone. No one else around, I checked."

Mr Crouch looked mildly disgusted by the man lying on the ground, who was surrounded by two other wizards who seemed to be examining him. "Why was Mr Moody here tonight ? He has been relieved of his Auror duties quite a while ago, has he not ?" he asked again to the woman, who looked uncomfortable.

"He thought that something like this might happen tonight… said the signs were all there. He thought he'd come with me tonight just in case." she finally uttered, still looking at the motionless body on the ground. 

"Paranoid as ever, but he was right", judged harshly Mr Crouch with a humorless smile.

"Are you alright, Tonks ?" said one of the other wizards to the woman.

She was paler than before, and had a gash on her cheek which was bleeding, which had gone unnoticed by Harry until then. She looked much younger next to the present group of Ministry officials, which was comprised of men between their forties and sixties.

"Fine, yeah, got caught by something in the action when I got that young Muggleborn down earlier… Dean Thomas or something… Moody ran off slightly after, then I followed him to the woods. " she sighed.

Hermione gasped next to Harry when she heard the name of their Gryffindor schoolmate, and all of the adults suddenly seemed to realize that the three Hogwarts students were still there with them, listening.

Arthur Weasley rushed towards them.

"Right, we're going back to the tent. The others are there already. You don't need to hear any more of this."

They left the Ministry officials behind them in the forest, with Mr Weasley dodging a number of questions coming from other wizards and witches they encountered along the way ("Look, I'm truly not the right person to ask, I'm not in the Auror Department - yes, everyone is mostly fine", he kept repeating). On the way back to the tent, Harry could not help but look at the gigantic floating green cloud in the sky, shaped like a skull with a snake protruding from his mouth. The sight of it gave him chills. 

When they got the right part of the camp, the y saw that all of the other Weasleys had already regained the tent. Al of them looked quite shaken. 

Once everyone was inside, questions ran abound. Mr Weasley cut them all off:

"What happened tonight was awful, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this. The Dark Mark, yes, what's floating in the sky now, is, or used to be, You-Know-Who's symbol. I want you, however, to focus on the fact that all of the Muggles and Muggleborns were rescued and have been put to safety, though old Moody got hit. It must have been Dark Magic, but he's still alive at least."

"Mad-Eye got hit ?" Bill and Charlie exclaimed in the same breath.

"Unfortunately. An Auror named Tonks found him, and quite frankly, saved his life. An admirable feat." stated Mr Weasley.

"I know her ! She was at Hogwarts in my year. Hufflepuff, though. She was Mad-Eye's ward during Auror training if I remember correctly, don't remember where I heard that though." said Charlie.

"Mr Weasley, who exactly was the man that got hurt ?" asked Hermione.

"A former Auror, one of the best before he went a bit off the rails. The cells of Azkaban are that full thanks to him, he was a really.. erm.. prolific Dark-Wizard catcher back during the war." answered Mr Weasley. "Look, we'll have all the time in the world to rehash this tomorrow, but we should get a couple hours of sleep before we catch an early morning Portkey out of here to Stoatshead Hill."

Before Harry, Ron and Hermione went back to bed, Mr Weasley somewhat cornered them. 

"The Ministry may need a joint testimony. I'm sure you'd rather forget what happened last night, but from what I've gathered, you may be the only chance Aurors got to get a solid lead. Now try to get some sleep."

The trio went to bed without a word to spare and exhaustion won them over eventually ; after a while, they were fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looked really wrong, only having the first chapter up, so I'm posting the second one right away. Third chapter will be up next Saturday or Sunday, probably. Enjoy !

The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione's early morning walk to the Portkey was quiet. While this was partly due to the ungodly hour on which they had woken up, it was mostly due to the fact that all of them were too busy being lost in their own thoughts to talk.

Any thoughts of Quidditch had been replaced in Harry's mind by vivid textures and colours: the scarred face of the man named Alastor Moody and his electric blue eye, bulging from his sunken eye socket ; the thick clouds of smoke which had formed the Dark Mark in the night sky, and its sickly green. The Bulgaria-Ireland final, and Ireland's subsequent victory, seemed like a distant memory already. The only thing Harry wanted at that very moment was to have a conversation alone with Ron and Hermione alone before having to recount the night's events to anyone else.

Their group eventually took a Portkey back to Stoatshead Hill, and walked back from there to Ottery St Catchpole. As soon as they had entered the Weasleys' gnome-infested garden, Mrs Weasley rushed outside to get them inside the house, as though Death Eaters had been following in their footsteps. Once all of the Weasleys, plus Harry and Hermione, had entered the Burrow, she started to calm down. It was obvious that she was feeling upset about the night's events, though she tried to hide it by busying herself in the kitchen. Harry was no dupe, however ; he knew that she could have had the bread sliced in thin, even slices with the use of her wand, rather than that of her large kitchen knife.

With both of his parents engaged in deep conversation, Ron made his way to the staircase, Harry and Hermione following suit. Apart from a few curious looks from Bill and Charlie, no one tried to prevent them from leaving the kitchen. Soon they had climbed up to Ron's bedroom, which stood on the highest level of the Burrow.

Ron kicked his bedroom door shut."What exactly did we hear last night ?" asked Harry immediately.

The three of them looked at each other, unsure what to say next.

"Well we first heard one voice - a man - telling someone to disappear and take a third person back to safety." began Hermione tentatively.

"Bloke number one got someone to safety from one of You-Know-Who's fanatics." summarized Ron."Then we heard a second masculine voice summon the Dark Mark", continued Hermione.

"Said You-Know-Who's fanatic, bloke number two. And he's the one that caught that Moody guy from afar I bet. Bloke number one probably made a run for it and escaped", said Ron.

"Are we sure that this is all there is to it, though ? It makes sense, but it's a bit… simplistic", retorted Hermione.

" Come on Hermione ! If it looks like a hippogriff, flies like a hippogriff, screams like a hippogriff…besides, I'm sure the Ministry has got tons of people on the case", argued back Ron.

"Do you think that the man we saw - Moody - is going to be alright ?" asked Harry.

"You know Harry, I'm really not sure. I think that the Auror we saw did the best she could, but she cast a lot of spells, and it still did not wake him up. But I'm sure that they took him to the hospital after we left, so who knows…" pondered Hermione.

"They probably brought him to St Mungo's, unless the Ministry does have a secret elite healing unit. I've heard rumors about that, you know-" started Ron.

"I'm sure there exists many fantastical rumors about the Ministry, Ron." said Hermione, cutting him off. "Now, which of them are actually true…"

There was a knock on the door, which startled the three of them. Bill entered Ron's bedroom.

"Mum and Dad need you to come downstairs, someone from the Ministry has arrived. They say that it shouldn't take long, and that you'll be able to go to bed after."

A small, battered clock was perched on an old set of bookshelves near Harry, which Ron took a look at.

"They sent a Ministry official at 7:30 in the morning to our house ? I didn't know our government had the right to torture underaged Hogwarts students," grumbled Ron.

There was indeed a mildly-sulking man standing in the Burrow's living room, who looked no happier than they felt. He seemed out of place, what with his neatly parted hair and black professional-looking cloak and robes ensemble, standing next to the patterned and tired chintz sofas of the Weasleys' living room.

"We will be done shortly," the man stated right away. "My name is Mile Rodgers, and I work in the Magical Law Enforcement department of the Ministry, though today I work in cooperation with the Auror department, as my superior felt that sending a qualified Auror to hear your testimony was not needed."

Nothing in his general stance, attitude, tone or facial expression helped determine whether he felt agreeable to lessening the burden placed on the Auror Department or, to the contrary, whether he strongly wished everyone working in the said Department to die a prompt and painless death. With a flick of his wand, Mr Rodgers made appear a piece of parchment and a standard black quill, which floated gently next to him near his right shoulder.

"Please state your name, age, occupation."

"Harry Potter, 14, Hogwarts student."  
"Ron Weasley, 14, Hogwarts student."  
"Hermione Granger, 14, Hogwarts student."

Harry watched out for the familiar flicker of sudden interest or recognition when he stated his name, but Mr Rodgers did not seem to care.

"Underage, then," he simply noted.Ron snorted derisively, as it was extremely obvious that none of them were of age.

"I will need to hear about what you happen to have seen or heard during the night of the 25th to the 26th of August, at around 3 in the morning of the 26th of August."

The quill started swishing back and forth on the parchment, writing out of its own accord everything Mr Rodgers, Harry, Ron and Hermione said next. After what felt like three hours of answering tedious questions, but turned out to have only taken a tad more than half an hour according to the small clock with stood precariously on a pile of books near the wall opposite Harry, Mr Rodgers had seemed satisfied, which is to say, he had given a small nod before waving away with his wand the quill and parchment."Obviously, your joint testimony will be added to the incident's case file. It may be read by anyone working the case, and may be used as evidence in court, should culprits be apprehended. You do not require witness anonymity, I presume ?"

Given the lack of reaction from Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were by now daydreaming of their respective beds, he nodded again, and made them sign the end of the roll of parchment on which their whole testimony was written. He made Mr Weasley, who had witnessed the entire questioning, sign as well.

"You are to keep what happened during the World Cup, especially what you were the witnesses of after having entered the forest near the camp, private. Good day to you all."

Mr Rodgers briskly walked back to the fireplace, his black cloak billowing behind him, and disappeared back to the Ministry in an intense, and rather angry, burst of green flames.

"You know, I really feel safe knowing this guy's job is fighting Dark wizards," yawned Ron.

"Don't be silly Ron, he's told you he wasn't an actual Auror. Besides, this poor bloke will probably have to do this ten times over today. Off to bed though, the three of you !" exclaimed Mr Weasley somewhat joyously at the idea of putting this ordeal behind him for now.

* * *

When Harry woke up some time later in Ron's room, its ginger owner was still sound asleep and slightly snoring. Deciding it best not to bother him yet, Harry climbed down the creaking stairs as silently as he could muster. Hermione was already up, which held little surprise to Harry ; everyone else was up as well, given that it was the middle of the afternoon already.

Mrs Weasley set down in front of him a plate, still smoking, of toast, scrambled eggs and baked beans. As Harry started to dig in enthusiastically, he listened to Bill and Charlie debate the morning edition of the Daily Prophet.

"That Skeeter woman is proper awful. She makes it sound like the Ministry is solely responsible for what happened last night, rather than the nutters in masks who decided to have their fun attacking Muggles and Muggle-borns !"

"And I don't know how she got that piece of information about what happened to Moody," added Charlie pensively. "Dad and Percy are at the Ministry," he added to Harry's attention.

"Were any of the Death Eaters caught ?" asked Harry hopefully.

"They caught absolutely no one. But there was such a crowd in attendance for the Bulgaria-Ireland final match, and almost all of these people were spending the night at the camp. I'm more surprised about the fact that a stampede was avoided than about the Ministry failing to catch Death Eaters," answered Charlie.

"Percy must be having such a day. I'm sure the Bulgarian Minister of Magic is thrilled," joked Bill.

"Forget about Percy - Crouch must be off his bloody rocker. And he's not a tender man on his good days either." said Charlie darkly.

"Ah, I always forget that you've met him due to the…" Bill caught himself before finishing his sentence, "upcoming event."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. They were exceptionally glad to go back to school soon, mostly so they could finally understand what the Weasleys kept making mention of.

Lucky for them, the following days flew by fast. Mr Weasley and Percy were gone from the house more often than not, working at the Ministry on "official business", as they had taken to calling it.

The day before their planned return to school via Hogwarts Express, Harry, Ron and Hermione had the surprise to discover the morning's Daily Prophet front page:

> " _DUMBLEDORE AND MINISTRY BRAS-DE-FER OVER UPCOMING YEAR AT HOGWARTS_ "
> 
> "In a scoop uncovered by one of the Daily Prophet's bravest journalists (Rita Skeeter, yours truly), it seems that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had been planning to recruit Mr Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody to fill the school's vacant Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position. Mr Moody was a former Auror, judged by some to have been a brilliant and powerful Dark wizard catcher, and by everyone to have become a "paranoid old hag", per an anonymous source. The same anonymous source described Mr Moody's current condition as "having had his brain completely fried by Dark Magic". Readers of the Prophet will no doubt remember the infamous World Cup incident (summarized p:15-to-18 of today's edition), which has prompted fears regarding the school's overall security. (For more information of notorious murderer Sirius Black's escape from Hogwarts, read the article on the subject p:13).While Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore has declined to comment on the current situation of insecurity at his school, the Ministry of Magic has not. Indeed, it has been confirmed that four Aurors will be stationed at the school for the duration of the upcoming academic year. It has also been announced that Lucius Malfoy has been reappointed Hogwarts School Governor by the Ministry of Magic to facilitate communication between Hogwarts and the Ministry.
> 
> While Dumbledore's fanatic supporters may denigrate the Ministry's choices, it appears to the entire Daily Prophet staff that the government is finally taking seriously the latest dramatic turns of events.
> 
> Related articles:
> 
> " _MASS-MURDERER SIRIUS BLACK STILL ON THE RUN_ " p:13.
> 
> " _THE DEFINITIVE STORY OF THE 1994 QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP DARK MARK INCIDENT_ ", p:15-to-18.
> 
> " _AN INTERVIEW WITH LUCIUS MALFOY ON HIS RE-APPOINTMENT TO HOGWARTS SCHOOL GOVERNOR_ " p:18-20.
> 
> " _AURORS: WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THEM ?_ " p:20-to-25."

"So that bloke we saw who almost got killed was supposed to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher ?" exclaimed Ron. "This is a lot to take in. The article doesn't even mention whether Dumbledore has found someone else to teach us ! And I can't believe we'll have to suffer Lucius Malfoy's ugly mug and his son's attitude about it." he grunted unhappily.

"I can't believe there'll be Aurors at the school. It just does not add up," started Hermione.

"The Ministry loves an overkill," said Ron, mouth full of toast.

"I think this may have to do with "the event" that Percy keeps bringing up," concluded Hermione.

"I'd rather die than ask him about it," muttered Ron, who had finally finished inhaling his pieces of toast along with his plate of scrambled eggs.

Hermione sighed, and Harry, to prevent sulking on any side, decided to simply add: "Another interesting year at Hogwarts, I'd wager."

Percy strolled in the kitchen right as Harry said this and, bearing his favourite all-knowing look on his face, beamed: "And you are quite right at that, Harry ! Of course you three are well aware that I am sadly not allowed to tell you anything about this year's "small surprise"."

Ron sighed loudly, while Harry tried to cover up his laugh with a cough.

"Now now little brother, I will have none of that attitude ! You will know soon enough, as I am guessing that Dumbledore will make the announcement tomorrow evening right after his traditional welcome speech. Anyhow - I'm off to the Ministry. Mr Crouch has really been appreciating my help for the past few days, and has asked me to work extra hours. Enjoy your last day of holidays, you three !"

Percy stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a puff of green smoke and flames. Hermione looked at the now-empty fireplace thoughtfully.

"Ron, you may be right about Percy after all. He can be a tad annoying, sometimes…" declared Hermione. Upon hearing that statement coming from Hermione herself, Ron seemed noticeably happier.

"At least we all agree on that," smiled Harry. "We should probably finish packing," he added.

"Good idea, Harry - we can go for a bit of Quidditch after that, end the summer holidays right," exclaimed Ron.

It took them until mid-afternoon to finish packing, as their personal and school belongings seemed to have scattered themselves to the four winds of the Burrow during their stay there. Following a few rounds of 2-on-2 Quidditch, dinner was a quick affair. It was only a matter of time after that before everyone was in bed, excited and apprehensive in equal measure over the upcoming school year at Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 3

The journey to King's Cross St Pancras was uneventful enough, all things considered. It was especially true when one took into account the fact that traveling to the train station were three adults and six students carrying their gigantic wood-and-leather trunks ; several owls ; and a monstrosity of an orange cat.

Harry was, like every year, feeling thrilled at the thought of boarding the Hogwarts Express for another year of school, though he could scarcely believe that he was about to enter his Fourth Year already.

The Platform 9 and 3 quarters seemed particularly crowded this year, and as they all were walking towards the train, dragging their luggage, Hermione elbowed Harry. "Look !", she whispered, pointing at something as discreetly as she could muster.

Harry was unsure at first of what it was, guessing it was someone in particular but unable to make out whom it was because of the crowd and the steam coming from the Hogwarts Express. Soon, however, he noticed them: a group of four adults, two mens, two women, who seemed like they were about to board the train. The two men facing Harry were laughing, and the entire party of four was wearing identical, matching scarlet cloaks and robes which Harry did not recognize. For a moment, he thought that they were Hogwarts Express staff, before remembering that, apart from a possible train conductor and the trolley lady, the Hogwarts Express did not need wizard staff members.

"Yeah, I see that group, what about them, Hermione ?", Harry whispered back.

Right as he said that, one of the witches in uniform, who had had previously its back turned to Harry, turned to face him. He recognized the woman instantly as being Tonks, the Auror who had found Mr Moody's body during after the World Cup finale. He felt puzzled as to why four Aurors would be on the platform, before remembering the Daily Prophet's article from the week before about Aurors being stationed at Hogwarts for the year.

"No Harry, I'm not talking about the Aurors - look who's on their right ! She doesn't seem thrilled, to say the least," whispered Hermione as their own group kept walking towards the train, the Weasleys unaware of what Harry and Hermione were discussing as Fred and George were loudly complaining about being unaware to spot their friend Lee Jordan.

To the right of Tonks' group were Draco Malfoy and his mother, Mrs Malfoy, thoroughly studying the uniform-clad Aurors.Draco Malfoy wore a mocking expression on his face, which Harry could see more clearly as they were slowly getting closer, and seemed to be talking quite loudly for everyone around to hear.

"Truly, Mother, this is who is being detached to Hogwarts for our protection ?" gloated the younger Malfoy. "I highly respect the Ministry of Magic, but whoever is their Head of Auror Department should be replaced immediately."

Other wizards and witches nearby, parents and children alike, were now observing the scene.  
The Aurors turned towards the Malfoys but said nothing. All of them wore the same closed expression on their face ; no one was laughing anymore.

"Yes, this place truly has gone to the dogs … I will have a word with your father about this ; I do not think it wise to leave the school's defense to a bunch of incompetent Aurors such as the ones responsible for the World Cup fiasco," said Mrs Malfoy in a mocking tone.

It was then that Harry noticed that she had her hand on her wand, and so did Tonks. They were staring at each other, and the tension was palpable.

"I see that Narcissa Malfoy is as pleasant as ever," muttered Mrs Weasley next to them.

She then rushed them into the train to stow their luggage in a compartment so they could come back out and have time to say their goodbyes to Charlie, Bill and herself.

By the time they had come back out of the train onto the platform 9 and 3 quarters,, Narcissa Malfoy had vanished, and Draco Malfoy had presumably boarded the train. There was no trace of them anymore, nor of the Aurors. Harry and Hermione looked at each other knowingly.

"You're lucky to be at school this year, given what'll happen. Have a good year, you lot !" said Charlie while Bill nodded, changing the subject.

"And most importantly, stay safe !" insisted Mrs Weasley. "Ginny dear, please write to your father and I. Actually, this applies to all the Weasleys about to board the Hogwarts Express. Now, to all of you, please, please don't put yourselves in danger this year."

Mrs Weasley was going to say something else, but the train's whistle blew, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George rushed back aboard the train as steam and smoke billowed more forcefully onto the train platform.

Upon arriving to the compartment where they had left their belongings, Harry, Ron and Hermione had the surprise to see that Neville was sitting there already. The four of them started to discuss their holidays, and the train journey passed by quickly. Soon, the four of them had slipped into their Gryffindor school robes.

* * *

The light darkness common to any late September afternoon had started to settle in by the time the Hogwarts Express boarded the Hogsmeade platform and students had began emptying the train.

As Harry, Ron and Hermione did so themselves, they first spotted Hagrid, whose towering silhouette was recognizable above all others. As he was herding the First Year students toward him, one of the scarlet-clad Aurors strolled towards him, tripping over a student so small it had to be an upcoming First Year - he seemed of unreasonable small build, to Harry and Ron -, and shook Hagrid's hand before engaging into a conversation with him.

As they tried to make their way through the crowd towards their half-giant friend, he spotted them at last, and waved at them with a big smile. Tonks, who was the Auror who had been talking to him, turned around and, to their surprise, walked up to them, leaving Hagrid to his Hogwarts duties. She wore bright pink hair this time, and her complexion seemed paler than before.

"Hi ! I thought I'd introduce myself properly before the start of the year, given that we met at a… erm… complicated time," she began. "I'm Tonks. i know who you are, obviously," she said to Harry, eyeing his scar. "Nice meeting you properly at last."

Hermione, who had been observing her Auror uniform with interest, extended her hand, which Tonks shook with a laugh, and introduced herself.

"Ron Weasley," said simply Ron to introduce himself.

Tonks' face lit up upon hearing his last name. "Oh, you're Arthur Weasley's son obviously, neat. Should've guessed with the hair. I've seen him around at the Ministry, he's interested in Muggles right, from what I've heard ?"  
Ron mumbled a feeble "Yes", as the conversation took a turn he had been obviously hoping to avoid. In Ron's mind, having an interest in Muggles was one thing, and collecting electric plugs was another.

"More wizards should be like him, instead of outright rejecting anything that is Non-Magical", started Tonks enthusiastically. "My dad's Muggle-born," she whispered with a wink.

She was about to say something else, but suddenly looked around her, somewhat panicked.

"Alright, I've got to catch up with my colleagues. Where's Ruby gone !? Anyway, see you around, Harry, Ron, Hermione," she said before hurrying away from them.

"Odd, but nice," stated Ron with a smile. Harry and Hermione agreed. Meanwhile, several students were looking at them curiously, including Neville.

"You know one of the Aurors personally ?" he asked, bewildered.

"We've met." stated simply Hermione.

Harry suspected that this encounter would spawn off a few rumors amongst other students ; already, as they got onto one of the carriages, Neville kept trying to interrogate them. "How come you're on first-name basis with one of them already !?", he asked several times. The trio eluded the question each time, and Neville eventually gave up, though he looked somewhat disappointed.

The castle was as inviting as it ever was, and all of the students, most of them slightly shivering, were glad to sit down at their House tables. The Sorting was nothing special, in Ron and Harry's minds, and the Welcome Feast, as always, was delicious ; however, Harry, Ron and Hermione were impatiently awaiting Dumbledore's speech.

"So !" started Dumbledore enthusiastically. "As we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. As per usual, Hogwarts's Forest is forbidden to all students. More than a tad unusual, there will be, as you have noticed, four Aurors on Hogwarts premises at the moment. They will be stationed at Hogwarts for the year. Even more unusual," joked Dumbledore, "The Inter-House Quidditch Cup has been cancelled. But !," Dumbledore raised his hands in a gesture aimed to calm the furious noises coming from the students, "This is due to a much more exciting event, which will be starting in October - the Triwizard Tournament, a seven-hundred-years old friendly competition between the wizarding schools of Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, will be hosted at Hogwarts this year."

Everyone was now listening to Dumbledore with attention.

"The goal of the Triwizard Tournament has remained, and remains, the same: to enjoy fine magical prowesses performed by even finer young wizards and witches. Each school will have a Champion, chosen by an impartial judge, who will face a number of trials and tribulations, in the hopes of winning the Triwizard Cup, and a prize of one thousand Galleons."There where whispers throughout the Great Hall. Dumbledore continued.

"In cooperation with the departments of International Magical Cooperation, represented by Mr Crouch, and the department of Magical Games and Sports, the Tournament will be organized in a less hazardously murderous way than before, I must add - I hope that you will all believe me when I say that the Hogwarts faculty, led by myself, and the Tournament Organization members, led by Mr Crouch, are all dedicated to the noble cause of student safety, as are the four Aurors we will welcome this year at Hogwarts." The Headmaster cleared his throat. "The other, no less important goal to this Triwizard Tournament, is international wizarding cooperation and understanding ! Cultural exchanges within the Magical Community are of the utmost importance. I therefore hope that you will all prove yourselves to be good hosts."

The whispers at the Gryffindor table, if they were of any indication, seemed to report that students were much more excited at the perspective of the Tournament itself than at the one of doing any kind of "hosting". Harry was still staring at the empty seat at the faculty table, and so was Hermione and Ron ; they had been expecting an announcement of some kind on the subject of their Defense class.

"Are we just not going to have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year ?," asked Hermione worriedly.

Dumbledore started speaking again right at that moment.

"Since I am on the subject of one-of-a-kind events, which tend to chase one-another these days," he made a slight pause as the Great Hall fell silent again. "I am delighted to welcome, for a second year of teaching at Hogwarts, Professor Remus Lupin. He will take up once more the mantel of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

The Great Hall remained silent for a moment, following a collective gasp, before exploding in a mix of various, equally loud reactions. Harry, Ron and Hermione were thrilled, but while they were not the only ones, they were surprised to notice that a lot of students sitting at the Gryffindor table were worried: "But he's a werewolf !" "Werewolves are so dangerous, my mum told me!" "I'm not showing up to Defense classes this year, I don't care what Dumbledore says", were some of the reactions they heard.

The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables seemed equally split, while the Slytherin table was making quite the ruckus, making their disagreement known.

It seemed that everyone was now glaring at the empty seat at the faculty table.

"In unprecedented fashion, Professor Lupin, due to his affliction, will teach almost full-time, but not entirely so. Other teachers will, occasionally, replace him. For now, Professor Snape will assure the interim. To anyone worried about their safety regarding Professor Lupin's presence on school grounds, I will simply remind you of the presence of four Aurors on our premises."

"What, are the Aurors going to cage him once a month ?" snickered Malfoy loudly.

"Professor Lupin will arrive the day after tomorrow due to a small delay, and has asked me to apologize on his behalf for not being present tonight." Dumbledore clasped his hands together, signifying that he would speak no more on that particular topic.

"Well, now that both our stomachs and heads are full for tonight, I will now leave you free to saunter back to your Common Rooms, minds set on thrilling dreams of courageous feats and glory. The Prefects and Head Boy & Girl will, as is the custom, lead you to your quarters. Meanwhile, I ask kindly of the Aurors to see everyone out before following myself and the rest of the staff members to this room."

The Headmaster waved his wand towards the wall behind himself and the teachers' table, which stood opposite to the gigantic wooden doors all the students were walking towards in a steady flow, exiting the Great Hall.

A wooden door appeared on the wall, and opened itself. Dumbledore and the Hogwarts teachers entered the room, leaving the four Aurors to watch the steady flow of students leaving the room.

* * *

Nymphadora Tonks was deep in thoughts, but her coworkers were not.

"Well, now I can say that I understand why the Minister of Magic wanted us here. Groups of foreign wizards coming to Hogwarts, and now a werewolf as a teacher !", exclaimed loudly Oliver McLaggen, a fellow Auror, to her right.

"We already knew about the Triwizard Tournament, you dunce. You're forgetting about Severus Snape, ex-Death Eater, and Lucius Malfoy, ex-Death Eater, and the Headmaster of Durmstrang, Igor Karkaroff, ex-Death Eater. I'm sure they'll all be equally delightful," added Tonks, mildly exasperated. She was less concerned about foreigners and the one werewolf than about three former Death Eaters reuniting on Hogwarts grounds, and McLaggen was proving himself to be as thick as usual.

McLaggen snorted derisively. "Mad-Eye Moody sure made an impression on you, Tonks - bad, Dark Wizards everywhere about, yeah ?"

Before she could retort anything, the last students present walked out of the Great Hall slowly, clearly eavesdropping on their conversation.

"How about we stop with the baseless accusations when students are around", started Ruby Singh. "I remember my time at Hogwarts quite clearly even though it was a long time ago, and I never missed the occasion to listen to grownup conversations."

"How about we enter that damn room as well," muttered Tonks.

The four of them crossed the Great Hall hastily under the dimming candlelight, which grew weaker as the ceiling's enchanted starry night sky started to shine above their heads.

Nymphadora Tonks was under the impression that her Hogwarts affectation was nothing more than a temporary dismissal from the Ministry's Hogwarts Headquarters, which was why she had, these days, a short temper, which she was struggling to keep under wraps.

She knew for a fact that Oliver McLaggen, Ruby Singh and Jude Smith had all had the final say on this Hogwarts assignment ; she had not had a choice. She remembered Moody's warning on Aurors' in-house politics as she crossed the threshold of the room at the end of the Great Hall, which was large enough to accommodate the fifteen to twenty people standing inside.

A large, sculpted rectangular wooden table occupied a significant chunk of the room. A variety of chairs were scattered around it. There were a couple of cabinets, filled with brass ornaments and oddly decorated plates, that adorned the bare parts of the wall next to where the fireplace stood, while the rest of the walls were adorned with medieval tapestries representing what seemed to be magical beasts. There was another door, as well as a small window besides it, on the wall opposite the fireplace. All of the room's occupants had now sat down at the table, and Tonks did the same, taking place between her former Head of House, Pomona Sprout, who seemed delighted to see her, and Ruby. She immediately noticed two additions who had not been into the Great Hall earlier: Mr Bartemius Crouch, and Mr Lucius Malfoy. Tonks eyed the fireplace critically: they had probably just arrived by Floo Network, judging by the dust scattered around the fireplace and the footsteps imprinted in the dust.

Soon, the only person still standing up was Dumbledore ; everyone was now looking at him.

"I will not burden you with another speech," started Dumbledore. "I wanted to personally welcome you all, and give you the occasion to introduce yourselves to one another. I had been warned, of course, of the four Aurors we would welcome for the year, and of who they were. For the rest of you all, presentations are in order, I think. You will have, I'm sure, noticed the presences of Mr Crouch and Mr Malfoy ; while I will retire to my office to attend to some urgent and tedious business, any questions can be redirected to the Deputy Headmistress McGonagall."

He then exited the room to the surprise of all its occupants, including said Deputy Headmistress.

"Very well," started McGonagall cautiously. "If the four Aurors could introduce themselves to the rest of the staff, please…"

"Ruby Singh", started Ruby right away. "Youngest squad leader in - well, a while. I'm 27, and will have been tasked to supervise my three colleagues as well as act as a liaison between yourself, Deputy Headmistress, Mr Crouch in his quality of Department head, Lucius Malfoy in his quality of Hogwarts Governor, and the rest of the Auror Bureau."

"Always the picture of efficiency, Ruby," approved Professor Flitwick, her former Head of House. The rest of the staff seemed to approve.

"Oliver McLaggen, 25. Pleased to be of service," said McLaggen, introducing himself."Jude Smith, 26. Pleased to be of service as well," immediately continued Smith, following suit.

"Nymphadora Tonks, 21." A few faculty members looked at her, surprised. Severus Snape was staring at her very intently, she noticed.

"I remember you from the Quidditch World Cup," said a voice somberly. It was Bartemius Crouch, who was staring at her as well, his face remaining completely neutral. "What a peculiar choice."

Lucius Malfoy hummed in a sardonically tone, smirking malevolently at her. Tonks felt suddenly quite alone.

"Ms Tonks was quite the gifted student, not so long ago," intervened McGonagall. "It's quite a feat, having finished Auror training by the age of 21," she concluded with a nod.

Tonks nodded back.

"Being a Metamorphmagus helped, of course," stated Snape in a neutral tone of voice, his face unreadable.

McLaggen snorted almost imperceptibly besides her. He had always been jealous of her Metamorphmagus abilities, and never missed an opportunity to remind her that she was only an Auror thanks to them.A few of the teachers introduced themselves as well, and so did Mr Crouch and Mr Malfoy, and, after a while McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Very good, very good. It is getting quite late. Aurors, the Headmaster has cleared this room for you, they will be your quarters for the year. The fireplace has been connected to the Floo Network. Behind this other door," she made a small hand gesture towards the second door, "you will find a small corridor which gives way to half a dozen small rooms. This rather small part of the Hogwarts Castle has remained unused for years, but fear not, the Headmaster has asked the castle's house elves to make it fit for human habitation. I will leave you free to make further acquaintance with each other."

She stood up, and so did everyone else. A few teachers left the room, while Lucius Malfoy headed straight for Ruby, presumably to introduce himself personally to her, and McLaggen latched onto McGonagall, his former Head of House, to ask her about his little brother's academic results. Tonks watched Mr Crouch leave from the corner of the room where she was standing ; he left hurriedly through the room's fireplace back to the Ministry, looking somber, before anyone could try to talk to him any further.

To her surprise, it was Severus Snape that approached her then, as pale as she remembered him, looking quite bat-like in his elegant flowing black robes.

"Professor", she nodded as sternly as she could muster - one did not smile at Severus Snape."You have not been a student here for quite some time, Miss… Tonks."

An unsaid last name floated in the air between them, unsaid, and Tonks felt herself get more tense by the second.

"You did teach me for seven years, and I have only been out of school for four. Though I can wager that I was not your most gifted student that year, or your favourite for that matter, old habits die hard."

She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to announce the point to this conversation: Severus Snape's human interactions were either forced, or leaden with ulterior motives. He seemed to be weighing his words.

"You are only slightly older than I was when I started teaching. I daresay that your path will prove to be more dangerous than mine, and I advise you to be careful," he finally said.

"Is there anything you wish to warn me about in particular, Professor ?", she said, almost innocently."Do not play coy, Miss Tonks. You know the respect I have for your mother. I simply wish to warn you about your less amicable relatives."

At the mention he made of her mother, Tonks took one step closer towards him. She lowered her voice, though she knew that no one in the room was paying attention to them. She remembered her mother's general attitude towards Severus Snape ; she would talk about him as little more than an acquaintance, but always with respect.

"My uncle does not worry me." She looked over Snape's shoulder at Lucius Malfoy, who was still engaged in deep conversation with Ruby. She turned her attention back to Severus Snape. "Now, on the topic of my dear mother, would you say you were colleagues, at some point in your lives, Professor ?"

His lips almost twitched into the faintest of smiles.

"I would advise you not to look any further into your mother's past actions."

"I will do as I-" she began, Snape cut her off.

"What little you would find, you would not be able to make sense of, which would lead you to many incorrect assumptions. Incorrect assumptions lead to foolish acts. I know the infamous Black temper well ; do not try to antagonize me," he said, faintly smiling still, a cruel look in his eyes.

Her stomach churned, and she glared at him.

"Thanks for the advice, Professor." she said in a tone as fake as she could muster, smiling wryly. "I will do my best to sleep on it."

"As you wish. Please extend my greetings to dear Andromeda Black , would you ?" He insisted on her mother's last name sardonically. "Good evening, Miss Tonks."

As he left the room, black robes billowing behind him, she wondered whether he was aware that she had not spoken to her mother since Sirius Black's escape one year ago had began to prompt her to ask her uneasy questions, which had found no answers.Feeling suddenly fed up with all of the room's occupants, she took her leave and, once standing in the small corridor, was pleased to see that the first bedroom door already bore her name, inscribed on a brass plate.

Her bedroom was small, with only a wardrobe, a bedside table, and a bed. The only thing adorning the walls were a small window. Her trunk had already been brought in. Tonks kicked off her shoes, removing her cloak, and lied on the bed, staring at the low stone ceiling. She fell asleep after a while, fully clothed in her scarlet robes, lying on top of the covers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though a lot of things are still in the process of being set-up, I hope anyone reading this will still have appreciated this chapter somewhat. Don't hesitate to comment or leave kudos ! I also have a twitter account, my handle is @LouMarguerite1 .


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I wouldn't make it for a Sunday update, but magically enough, I did. Hope you like this one. If you feel like the chapters are getting longer... well, they are. You can, as always, follow me on Twitter @/LouMarguerite1 . Don't hesitate to leave a comment (which would be a first!) or kudos or bookmarks or whatever. :)

On Wednesday, two days after the Welcome Feast, it could honestly be said that Hogwarts had not calmed down one bit since the initial announcements of that evening.

The Triwizard Tournament, of course, was on every student's lips ; rumors about who would put their name down, and who would be chosen, were flying throughout the school. A few Sixth Year students had started running bets under the table already.

The Aurors' presence at Hogwarts, along with Lupin's return, were close seconds regarding which topics dominated students' conversations.

Students' curiosity about the latter reached its apex on the day of Lupin's return at Hogwarts. 

That morning, as Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking to the Charms classroom, they heard an older student talking to his friends about their returning Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"I had McGonagall this morning in my NEWT-level Transfiguration class, I asked her when Lupin would come back, figured that as the Deputy Headmistress she'd know… she told me he'd arrive today right after lunch, and that he'd start teaching tomorrow. I'm lucky enough, my classes with him are on Thursdays."

Harry, Ron and Hermione smiled at each other as they arrived in front of Professor Flitwick's classroom.

"Brilliant !" exclaimed Ron. "We have a big break after lunch, we could wait for him in the front courtyard !"

"Who ?" asked Lavender, who was always eavesdropping on others' conversation.

"Lupin's coming back today," answered Harry.

"Oh, right." Lavender sounded disappointed. "I was really hoping Dumbledore would replace him somehow, my parents are upset about him being a you-know-what. They told me they didn't want me going to his classes."

"Are you talking about the werewolf, Lavender ? Yeah, he's a bit of a joke isn't it, him coming back to Hogwarts this year ?" said Seamus Finnigan, barging in on their conversation.

"You kept saying last year that he was the best teacher you'd ever had !" protested Dean.

"We've already argued about it, Dean, you're a Muggleborn you don't get it. Werewolves are like… unnatural." said Seamus, looking mildly disgusted.

Hermione, to Harry, looked very much like she was about to hex both Seamus and Lavender, but Professor Flitwick chose that moment to usher them in his classroom.

"I can't believe what they're saying, Harry !" she whispered as they sat down. "How can they be so horrible to him ?"

Harry shrugged, as he did not understood it either. Next to them, Ron said nothing. 

The Charms class went by quickly, as Professor Flitwick simply gave them the syllabus for the year, as well as some general advice on how to handle a more intense workload than what they had been used to so far.

* * *

After lunch, they headed to the front courtyard, where they were not the only students waiting for Lupin's return to Hogwarts. The groups of curious students grew steadily in numbers for about thirty minutes, until they finally saw him arrive alongside one of the male Aurors.

Lupin was wearing a long coat of thick, brown fabric, which seemed too large around the shoulders, as well as a suit of a darker colour. An old battered leather briefcase in one of his hands, wand in the other, he had enchanted four gigantic wooden trunks which were floating behind him, gently following him along in a neat line.

The male Auror escorting him Harry recognized as Cormac McLaggen's older brother, Oliver McLaggen. Not because of their physical resemblance, which was not that striking, but rather because he had heard Cormac boast about his former-Gryffindor, Auror of an elder brother for days now.

As the both of them approached, Harry was surprised to see that Lupin looked rather the worse for wear, a grim expression plastered on his face as he took in the groups of students standing in the courtyard ; he did not stop to greet them ; instead, he looked straight ahead and kept walking, McLaggen ushering him in the castle, commanding groups of students to let them through and go back to class.

If Lupin had noticed Harry, he had made no show of it ; and, as Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, he saw that they looked as disappointed as he felt. 

"He doesn't look too happy to be back to Hogwarts," said Ron after a while, apparently feeling the need to state the obvious.

"That'd be because I don't think he wanted to, Ron," started Hermione. "He's doing it as a favor to Dumbledore."

"Last year was a favor to Dumbledore already," said Harry, remembering the conversation he had had with Lupin at the end of his 3rd year after he had handed in his resignation to Dumbledore.

" Well, Dumbledore must owe him big time now. Do you think that we should head to his office as a… err… show of support or something ?" said Ron hesitantly.

"I don't think today's a good idea. We've got him tomorrow afternoon, first period after lunch, we can stay a bit after he's finished his class,. Right now, we could probably head back to the Common Room ?" reasoned Harry, as Ron and Hermione agreed, relieved. 

* * *

They got a second glimpse of their returning Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher during dinner that evening. 

Right at the beginning of dinner, a few Slytherins had thought it spiritual to start howling upon Lupin's arrival in the Great Hall, to the laughter of many students from other Houses. McGonagall had withdrawn 20 points from Slytherin for "disruptive and disrespectful behaviour", but the tone was set, to Harry, Ron and Hermione's dismay.

There was no speech from Dumbledore to formally welcome Lupin back to Hogwarts ; rather, the empty chair at the teachers' table was suddenly filled with a more-miserable-looking-than-before version of him.

  
Behind the Great Hall, in the small room which had been allocated to them, three of the four Aurors assigned to Hogwarts were having the exact same kind of conversation than the students were over their own dinner.

"I'm sorry but I've got to ask - what's he like ?" began Jude Smith as they started to dig in to their plate. "I've never met a Werewolf before - they're supposed to be quite reclusive, aren't they ?" 

Oliver McLaggen shrugged beforeshoveling down more food into his mouth. "Didn't talk much, to be completely honest with you," he said after a couple of mouthfuls. "He seemed tired, told me he'd had a long journey to Scotland, wouldn't tell me where he'd previously been. That's about it."

"Where do werewolves even live, in general ?" pondered Smith.

Tonks decided that she had had enough of that stupid conversation. "Werewolves live naked in caves, obviously. Without electricity or running water. And they only speak in grunts, don't forget." 

She did her best not to roll her eyes when McLaggen huffed condescendingly, and decided that her only hope was for Ruby to come back from whatever she was off doing so that she could escape this mind-numbingly stupid conversation. 

"I'm just asking out of curiosity !" protested Smith. "Don't go around believing I'm prejudiced or anything like that."

McLaggen latched onto the occasion. "Yeah Tonks, stop being so pissy. No one needs your attitude, we're all stuck here like you are," he fired back. "We'd all rather be working on the Black case. Or on the World Cup one. Well, you wouldn't be working on the World Cup one, I'd wager it'd be too traumatic for you."

Tonks managed not to throw her plate at McLaggen, which would have been very Muggle-like, and yet much more satisfying than hexing him with her wand. She said nothing, but cut one of the few potatoes left on her plate too aggressively ; her knife produced a horrible screeching sound as it scratched the bottom of it. 

"If you're that pro-werewolf though," continued McLaggen, "how about you head to his office tomorrow, fill him in on what we're here for, and what measures are going to have to be taken due to his lycanthropy ?"

"That's a great idea, McLaggen. Better me than you two unknowledgeable sods - I've got to say, I'm surprised you even know the word lycanthropy." she retorted.

They looked at each other over their unfinished dinner plates, both hot under the collar. Thankfully, Ruby Singh chose that moment to enter the room, breaking the tension.

"Dinner's finished in the Great Hall. Tonks, see all of the students out and mind that no one sneaks out of the castle when you go outside for your evening patrol on the Hogwarts grounds. McLaggen and Smith, you'll fill me in on today in a minute."

"On it right away, chief," said Tonks, making a point to smile at her and completely ignore her two idiotic colleagues, who were both gifted wizards as well as thick human beings. Deep down, she knew that if she were able to play pretend with them, they could get along as colleagues, but did not entertain that thought for too long.  
  
As she told a group of 3rd year Hufflepuff to leave the Great Hall and head back to their Common Room, she wondered about the werewolf, Lupin. He was the only Hogwarts professor she did not know, as all of the others had taught her during her time at Hogwarts, not so long ago. It was obvious that his presence did not go well with a lot of students, and probably some of the faculty as well. 

Tonks remembered that werewolves in their human forms were not supposed to be particularly dangerous, and that research had been conducted regarding possible links between lycanthropy and predispositions to the Dark Arts, though she could not remember whether it had yielded any results. 

She fastened her cloak, drew out of her wand, and exited the castle, shivering slightly as she breathed in the humid, cool outside air. Her temporary conclusion prior to meeting him in a little less than twenty hours was that, if that man had gotten a teaching position at Hogwarts on Dumbledore's request, he could not be too awful. She held on to that thought to the best of her abilities, trying not to think about Dumbledore's disastrous last previous choices for the teaching position, which Ruby had told her all about earlier in the day.

* * *

On the following day, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed to the 3rd floor after lunch, to Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. 

It looked exactly the same as it had the year before, apart from the fact that there were less items in the room: less books, less magical instruments, less skulls of magical creatures. Harry guessed that, since Lupin had been called to Hogwarts in a hurry by Dumbledore due to Alastor Moody's incapacitation, he had brought along fewer of his belongings this time around.

As all of the students sat down, Harry noticed that more than a few were missing, including Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigan. Amongst the ones who had shown up, some looked positively uncomfortable and were avoiding looking at Lupin, who was standing by his desk, his arms crossed over his torso, looking wary.  
  
"Good afternoon to you all, and welcome back. Let me say first of all that I hope all of you had a pleasant summer." He paused, and looked at all of his students for a short moment. "I'll start straight away with a word on this year's curriculum. Per the Ministry of Magic's regulations, we will focus, this year, on counter-curses. However, I have also discussed with Dumbledore your introduction this year to the notions of authorized and unauthorized acts of magic, such as, but not limited to, the Unforgivable Curses."

A few students gasped, including Hermione. Ron was looking at his teacher, perplexed.

"He agreed with me that, in light of recent events, you could all benefit from knowing them. You haven't covered the Grindelwald era in your History of Magic class yet, although it's only shortly brought up by Mr Binns in his 7th Year curriculum, but for the sake of this first class, a bit of history first."

Everyone now looked slightly less interested.

"Up until the end of the Grindelwald era, which I invite you to get more knowledgeable about by the way, what you would call now the Unforgivable Curses were part of a broader category of dangerous curses, rather than a fixed set of three very dangerous, government-forbidden curses. This broader category of "Dark Magic" was in constant flux over centuries. During the Grindelwald era, which spans from about 1920 to 1946, the three Unforgivable Curses were widely used by wizards from all sides - including what you would call "the good one"."

Lupin stopped speaking for a short moment, before continuing:

"By 1950, the three Curses had been made illegal by all of the European Wizarding governments, and the term "Unforgivable Curses" was coined. Then, during the First Wizarding War, Bartemius Crouch, at the time Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, authorized his Aurors to use them if necessary. This stopped after Voldemort's demise," (a few other students looked at Harry) "and thus the Unforgivable Curses were completely forbidden once again, and have been so for 14 years now. Now, who could name them for me ? Yes, Miss Granger ?"

* * *

About two hours later, Lupin clasped his hands together, before pointing to the three diagrams which represented the three Unforgivable Curses with his right hand.

"Well, that is the end of today's class. I hope that it was informative."

A few students nodded, still intensely listening, while others were hurriedly gathering back their belongings into their bags already.

"We will, of course, begin working on counter-curses next class. Yes, it will be a practice class, but please do still bring your book with you," said politely Lupin with a light smile. "You are free to go now. Have a good afternoon !"

The rest of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students stuffed back parchment, quills, and books into their bags as quickly as humanly possible before leaving the classroom. Harry tried to pay attention to their conversations, but nothing seemed to have really changed: most of the Ravenclaws seemed convinced that he was an excellent teacher still, while the students who had previously been vocal about their opinion that his lycanthropy should _de facto_ exclude him from teaching did not seem to have changed their minds.

Harry, Ron and Hermione did not follow the flow of students leaving the classroom ; they remained near their desks, watching as Lupin gathered his notes and closed the books he had kept open at his desk. Finally, he looked at them, his face remaining neutral.

"Can I help you with something ?"

"We just wanted to say welcome back," said Hermione nervously.

Lupin's smile seemed a bit forced. "Well, thank you very much. I appreciate the sentiment, though I'm not sure that many of your fellow students feel the same. I will win most of them over with my incredible teaching skills however, or so Dumbledore seems to think."

Neither Harry, Ron or Hermione knew what to answer to that.

"You didn't want to come back, Sir ?" blurted out Ron.

"I am indebted to Dumbledore, and thankful as ever. I do enjoy teaching," Lupin said, with a genuine smile, this time. "However, the politics that come with it, I'd gladly do without," he concluded. "I only agreed to come back due to the incident with Alastor Moody, whom Dumbledore was planning on asking to teach Defense this year. You would have been left without anyone to teach you otherwise. This is the only reason I'm back this year. Last year's end of term was a bit too eventful for my taste," he said grimly.

 _"_ But Professor, Sirius Black-" began Harry, immediately cut off by Lupin.

"I would be glad if you didn't pronounce that name, Harry, not even in my classroom," he said politely, but rather icily.

Harry found himself getting vaguely annoyed by Lupin's behaviour, unable to understand it.

"He's not You-Know-Who !" protested Harry. 

Lupin looked at him, an unimpressed look on his face. "To the British Wizarding Community at large, he's a mass-murderer on the run. And we," he looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione pointedly. "are not to presume otherwise. This is for everyone's safety. In case you haven't noticed, there are Aurors roaming around Hogwarts this year. 

Harry looked at his feet, feeling quite ashamed. "I'm sorry, Professor."

"Apology accepted. I'm just trying to look out for you three, given your propension to getting into trouble. Although the age limit for the Triwizard Tournament gives me one less thing to worry about, I suppose. Shouldn't you three get down to the Great Hall ? It must nearly be time for dinner."

The sudden, loud noise of something heavy crashing to the floor in the corridor outside Lupin's classroom made all of them jump and prevented Harry from answering his professor's question. They all turned to the classroom's door, which remained closed.

"Bloody hell… thank Merlin there's no students around - oh PEEVES for the love of all that is good, stop pelting me with that giant armor's forearms - REPULSO - you absolute twat !"

Peeves started cackling loudly, while the loud noises continued, and so did the firing of several more _Repulso_ spells. Lupin looked curiously at the door. "Shall we go help this particularly mouthy student ?" he said in an amused tone.

"Professor, frankly, I don't think this was a student," said Hermione with a knowing look on her face. After a particularly nasty "bang", they heard Peeves' shrieking get further away from them. A few seconds later, there was a polite knock on the door.

"Come in," said Lupin as he waved his wand and the door opened itself on Tonks. Her hair was fading from a bright pink back to brown, and she seemed out of breath, wand still in hand. She stared at them, surprised about seeing the three students, before beaming at them.

"You lot again ! How's the whole back to school business going ?" 

"Good so far, thanks !" replied Ron with a smile.

She walked up to them, and extended her hand to Lupin, which he shook, though he arbored a perplexed look on his face.

"Remus Lupin," he introduced himself.

"Nymphadora Tonks," she said as Ron snorted loudly. "Just call me Tonks though." She turned to Ron for a split second. "And I wouldn't laugh so much if my first name happened to be _Ronald,_ you know." 

Ron turned red at the ears, while she turned back to Lupin and quickly let go of his hand, which she had been still holding. 

"I'm one of the Aurors assigned to Hogwarts for the school year," she told him with a smile.  
  
Lupin looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione knowingly. 

"You should go down to the Great Hall, dinner will be served soon. We'll have plenty of opportunities to chat."

Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded. "Have a good day, Professor ! Welcome back !" smiled Hermione as the three of them walked away. 

"You said "welcome back" like three times !", protested Ron as they headed towards the door. 

"Well, I'm really glad he's back ! He's a great teacher !" Hermione exclaimed in protest as they left the room and closed the door behind them.

"How sweet," pondered Tonks out loud, looking at the now closed door.

"Yes, quite," agreed Lupin cautiously. "You know them personally ? Have they already gotten into enough trouble to involve Ministry Aurors ?"

"Nothing like that", assured Tonks with a small hand gesture. "We met before term started, at the World Cu… err, on the Hogsmeade platform."

Tonks quickly shut herself up before her mouth could betray herself. It was all Peeves' fault ! Small altercations like these always managed to throw her off…

"I am going to act as though I mysteriously did not understand what you almost said."

Tonks smiled nervously.

"Yeah, that's for the best probably."

"Shall we head to my office ? It's right up at the top of those stairs. I'm sure your visit had another purpose than cursing the hell out of Peeves and blurting out pieces of information I'm not supposed to know about, yet know about anyway." She looked at him, wide-eyed. "There's not much that gets past Dumbledore, and given that I am this year's substitute for Alastor Moody, he thought it best to inform me to the best of his knowledge. I won't tattle that you let it slip, should you keep it to yourself that I am in the know as well." 

Tonks cursed herself silently. Two minutes of conversation with this man, and he had already got the upper hand over hand, though it was a very polite upper hand. She followed him up the white stone stairs into his office, of which he unlocked the door with his wand.

Tonks' first impression was that Lupin's office gave off a rather welcoming vibe while looking every bit like the idea she held of what a Muggle Oxbridge lecturer's office should look like. The few bookshelves which adorned the stone walls were crumbling under the weight of imposing-looking books ; a huge calendar was pinned on the only bookshelves-free wall, next to a few magically animated diagrams which represented the effects of different spells and curses. The centerpiece of the room was an enormous desk, which was covered with bits of papers and scattered quills. There was one leather armchair on one side of it, and two simple wooden ones on the other.

As they sat down on either side of his desk, he smiled at her.

"Tea ?"

"Sure. I mean, thanks," she corrected herself immediately.

Just like that, Tonks was reminded why she hated meeting people for the first time - it was always such a mess.

She watched as, on Lupin's wordless command, a flying enchanted teapot picked up a teabag along the way before landing on his desk, which had bits and pieces of parchments scattered all over it. He cleaned it hastily to make way for the two teacups on their saucers, which were followed by two spoons which parallel parked themselves next to the teacups. 

"Milk or sugar ?", Lupin asked politely.

"No thanks," she said as she watched him send away two little pots, one filled with milk and the other with sugar, which had just appeared. She looked at Lupin appreciatively.

"Nice bit of magic - very domestic. Are you sure you're not the new Charms teacher ?" Tonks blurted out.

"I should hope not. Wouldn't want to put Professor Flitwick out of a job," he said with a chuckle.

She watched as the brewing teapot, now full of hot water, got surrounded by the two tea cups which had ganged up on it and were now nudging it forcefully. Eventually, the teapot gave up and filled them to the brim with tea, which seemed to calm the tea cups down, as they became motionless once more.

"A friend of mine, Lily, was hugely talented in Charms," explained Lupin. "She taught me a few tricks during our years at Hogwarts, most of them useless, which she was certainly not, and as charming as she used to be, which is immensely." 

Lupin watched the teacups for a few more seconds, deep in thoughts.

"So I'm guessing it's odd for you to be back ?", Tonks hazarded. If he were, she certainly could relate.

"I can't say I was expecting it, no," he said in a most serious tone.

"Me neither, to be honest," she admitted. "And we're both here because of Mad-Eye somehow, which is mildly hilarious. I'll be sure to tell him that we're both very disgruntled at this situation, when he wakes up. Or, if, he wakes up." 

She was aware that she was letting herself go, but could not bring herself to care. She could tell that he needed a break as much as she did ; thankfully, he did not take her up on the topic of Moody.

"So you're the Metamorphmagus," he said, changing the subject. "A few of my students this morning asked me about it, but I'll admit that I didn't quite believe that, of the few Aurors on Hogwarts ground, one would actually be one. However, I did see your hair color spontaneously change earlier," he said with polite interest.

"Yes, and I really need to get a handle on that," she said, irritated. "What with a few sources of tension at the moment, and my colleagues being mildly difficult to deal with, let's say, it's a bit hard keeping it all down," she offered as an explanation.

"I'm assuming the charming older McLaggen is exempt from this sweeping generalization."

She looked at him curiously, but his face remained unreadable.

"Of course. It's fabulous to work with him - an absolutely… spiffing… situation," she stated in a tone as neutral as she could manage. He chuckled back, and she smiled. "Anyway - I was sent here to… er… introduce myself to you." 

She stopped for a moment. She did not know how to bring up the "werewolf security measures", as McLaggen had called them earlier. She looked at him, really looked at him. Took in his good manners, three-piece suit that had seen better days, and his face, which remained quite handsome despite the scarred lacerations and the bags under his eyes. There were scars on his hands, too, which were joined together, set on the desk next to his teacup.

"It's kind of you to be too polite to say it, but I'm not surprised that the Ministry would send one of its Aurors to check in with Hogwarts' local werewolf teacher," he said with a smile, which was more forced this time around.

"Can you confirm that Severus Snape will still be punctually brewing for you a Wolfsbane potion, in sufficient quantity and quality ?" she said, her attitude professional this time.

"I certainly can."

"Where will you transform ?"

"In this very office. A strong soundproofing Charm is already in effect."

"Is the door sufficiently strong ?"

"Yes, especially when one considers that the Wolfsbane potion makes my alter-ego harmless. Should it make the Ministry feel better, of course, you could put a magically-reinforced locks on the door and windows."

"Consider it done. There's also going to be one of us guarding the entry to the classroom."

His classroom was the only way to his office, and Tonks had just decided that an Auror posted at the first door would be more than enough. Lupin nodded.

"Fair enough."

Tonks felt compelled to apologize over the matter. "I'm really sorry about all of this. It's just that there's a certain pressure on us, given the Triwizard Tournament."

"It's absolutely fine. Although - could I make a small, informal request ?"

"Of course," she fired back instantly.

"Tell McLaggen that I'm requesting him personally," said Lupin, cracking a smile.

Tonks was quite tempted to agree. McLaggen's face alone upon learning this would be worth it. But, she had been thinking about playing nice - making small efforts and such.

"He is going to despise me even more for this - and you, for that matter. But if you can deal with it, so can I," she said after a while.

"Surely a strong, burly young man like him can stand to lose a couple nights of sleep a month ?" said Lupin with an innocent air plastered upon his face.

Tonks snickered, but suddenly remembered about the time - she looked at her watch.

"Now that all of this is settled, I need to go. But it was nice to properly meet you."

They both stood up, and he extended his hand to her for the second time, which she shook enthusiastically. 

"Feel free to report that I am indeed the greatest menace Hogwarts has ever seen," Lupin said as a goodbye.

"I'll be sure to mention it !"

Tonks hurried out of his office and out of his classroom, and went back to what seemed to have become Hogwarts' very own temporary Auror headquarters. 

* * *

The room had evolved accordingly to its new status. For starters, it certainly seemed bigger than before. A few of the animated tapestries representing magical beasts had gone, and there were now two desks facing the wall, next to the fireplace ; pinned above the desks on the wall was a map of the Hogwarts castle and surrounding school grounds.

The latest editions of the Prophet were lying on the bigger, carved wooden table where they usually had their meals. Today's edition had been picked up by Ruby, who was reading it with a frown ; she was the only one in the room at the moment.

"How did it go with Lupin ?" she asked without looking up.

"Fine. We found an agreement regarding security measures, I'll jolt down a report before tonight. He also told me to report back, and I'm directly quoting him here, that we could definitely pin him down as "Hogwarts' greatest menace"," said Tonks in a dry tone.

"A Hogwarts teacher with a sense of humor, who would have thought we would ever witness this ?" Ruby muttered, still reading whatever article she had previously been reading.

"He also personally requested McLaggen to guard his classroom around full moons," said Tonks with the straightest face she could muster.

Ruby looked up at her, somewhat unamused.

"Request granted," she said after a while. "But only because McLaggen is a notorious insomniac. I'd told you we would take turns, hadn't I ? Was it you who made that clever suggestion ? I'm warning you, I don't want the situation between you and McLaggen to escalate, otherwise I'll have to report you both. I know that you're young and that Moody was not the most sociable Auror around when he was still of service, but I'm expecting you to rise above."

Tonks felt exasperated but nonetheless refrained herself from firing back " _he_ started it", which would have proved Ruby's point.

"The International Magical Cooperation department is afraid of leaks," started Ruby again. "and they are withholding information about the Triwizard Tournament, like whether Maxime and Karkaroff will be bringing along additional staff members or not. _This_ is my problem right now. You and McLaggen ? It's not."

Tonks said nothing.

"Good on you for dealing with Lupin that quick, though." said Ruby in a sincere, though somewhat grumpy, tone.

"It helps that he's an actual human being, compared to McLaggen. I'll write the report and I'll also fill the form for additional equipment requirement, he's agreed to an encrypted magical lock for his door, the Magical Artifacts subdivision will have to provide that."

"I've brought a stack of every kind of forms we could possibly need, it's in the cabinet over there, find the right ones and take care of it please. I'll sign it both your report and the request, that way the request will get approved quicker" said Ruby before going back to her newspaper.

Tonks muttered _Accio forms_ in a dull voice, and the neat stake exploded out of the cabinet, landing in front of Tonks on the table on a messy pile of purple forms. Sighing, she found the right ones, put it the request one aside, and started writing her report on "Additional security measures for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland". She kept it as formal and efficient as possible, and once more pondered the thrilling life of being an Auror.


End file.
